West Coast’s senior leaders have been called out for not helping burgeoning young star Harley Reid overcome a “ruthless” James Jordon tag in a disastrous 128-point flogging against Sydney on Easter Saturday.

Reid was held to 17 disposals at Optus Stadium as the Swans ran riot.

But more crucially, the 20-year-old was only able to gather one clearance and 151 metres gained, having been one of the Eagles’ best performers across come-from-behind wins against North Melbourne and Port Adelaide in the previous fortnight.

Jordon dogged the midfielder’s steps from the moment he stepped onto the field, even following him into defence and attack.

And while Reid struggled under the attention, former Adelaide superstar Rory Sloane brought the heat back on the youngster’s teammates to help him out.

“Sydney were ruthless,” he told the Sunday Footy Show.

“They wanted to tag him and completely eliminate him from the game.

“I was a bit frustrated watching because I’m looking at guys like Tim Kelly, and Jack Graham tried to put on a block every now and then and no Elliot Yeo didn’t help, but there was not much help for Harley Reid.

“I want to see some of their senior players help and get across to block. It’s tough in your third year of footy when you’re getting tagged so heavily from a great tagger like James Jordon.”

Sloane singled out veteran Eagle Kelly as one who has experience with taggers and should know better.

“They tried a few things. They pushed Harley forward, and James Jordon went back on him. This is how ruthless Sydney were, Harley Reid went back, and Jordon pushed forward and played a defensive forward role,” he said.

“So, Sydney didn’t give him an inch, but West Coast’s senior fella’s have got to give Harley Reid a chop out.

“Especially from someone like Tim Kelly, who’s been tagged a lot in his career and knows how tough it is. Like, get across, put a body on him and try and free up Harley at the stoppage as well.”

West Coast coach Andrew McQualter was quick to admit post-game that more needed to be done to help Reid overcome taggers that are inevitably going to come his way.

“In my opinion, Jordon is one of the best taggers in the competition. He’s not the first, and won’t be the last that he does that to — he’s just so good at that,” he said.

“We didn’t help Harley enough. We had some plans, but it’s got to be part of what we do going forward, because I’d imagine it’s not the last time he gets tagged.

“We tried quite a few different things. We moved him positionally a few times. He wasn’t quite at the level he’s been at the last few weeks, but that’s what you get from a 20-year-old.”

Jordon’s teammate, Isaac Heeney, was all praise for the tagger’s efforts post-match, the inability of Reid to get the footy opening the door for the Swans star’s monster four-goal and 26-disposal night on return from a hamstring concern.